Latest Cannabis News: November 3, 2020

Stay up to date with the latest legalization and cannabis news with the CB Advisors. Every week, we will release a snippet of what’s happening with each state in the cannabis industry. Did you miss last week? No worries – click here for last week’s cannabis news. 

Dry:

Kansas: A strong majority of Kansas residents support legalizing marijuana for adult use by a three-to-one margin, according to a new poll. While cannabis reform might not be on the state’s ballot next week as is the case in five other states, the survey shows that about two-thirds of Kansans (66.9 percent) are in favor of enacting the policy change, compared to 22.2 percent who are opposed and 10.9 percent who are undecided.
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Medical:

Arizona: Arizona voters will decide Tuesday whether to legalize recreational marijuana, joining 11 other states that already have done so despite a conflict with federal law, which prohibits the drug’s use. Proposition 207 would legalize possession of as much as an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older, and set up a licensing system for retail sales of the drug, starting with the medical-marijuana dispensaries already operating in the state. Sales could begin in March under the measure.
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Arkansas: Medical marijuana sales in Arkansas rose after a COVID-19 pandemic was declared last March, resulting in marijuana flower shortages. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission, which regulates the industry, has recently licensed several more medical marijuana cultivation facilities to open by next year. Existing Arkansas cultivators have filed suit to block industry expansion, claiming there is adequate supply.
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Mississippi: The governor of Mississippi is not happy about the medical marijuana measures on his state’s ballot this week, saying they are favored by “stoners.” “There are good folks on all sides of the medical marijuana debate. Most non-stoners say we should be careful & deliberate,” Gov. Tate Reeves (R) tweeted. “Initiative 65 is the opposite.”
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Missouri: A Missouri family that was denied a license to grow medical marijuana alleged in court this week that outside groups and individuals had undue access to top state officials — and that access led to an opaque process and contributed to the decision to cap the number of licenses granted.
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Ohio: The window to petition the state to add new medical marijuana qualifying conditions has reopened through Dec. 31. Advocates in the past have petitioned for the addition of anxiety, autism spectrum disorder and opioid use disorder to the list of Ohio’s 22 qualifying conditions for medicinal cannabis. Those conditions have been previously rejected by a state medical review board, though.
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Oklahoma: City councilors will discuss allowing drive-through service at medical marijuana dispensaries. If you can pick up your blood pressure prescriptions at your pharmacy’s drive-through window, why can’t you pick up your medical marijuana prescription at a dispensary?  District 3 City Councilor Crista Patrick and a few of her constituents will take up the subject during a council committee meeting. Discussion but no vote is expected.
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Recreational:

Illinois: Adults purchased 1,557,880 marijuana products in October, worth a total of $75,278,200. That’s about $8 million more in sales compared to September and almost double the first month of sales in January. The new adult-use sales figures don’t include data about purchases made through the state’s medical cannabis program. About $55 million in purchases came from in-state buyers, while nearly $21 million came from out-of-state tourists.
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Maine: Wellness Connection, which owns four of eight licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in Maine, filed a motion on Thursday to fight a lawsuit against the state from two small marijuana businesses over recreational cannabis licenses granted to businesses with some out-of-state ownership.
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Massachusetts: Massachusetts marijuana sales have officially exceeded $1 billion since the adult-use system launched a little less than two years ago, regulators announced on Tuesday. According to data from the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system, $1,000,521,905 in cannabis sales have been logged as of October 30.
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